Between the second half of 2015 and the second half of 2016, the largest decreases in household electricity prices, in national currencies, were reported in the Netherlands, Cyprus Lithuania, Romania and Ireland, according to data released by the Eurostat statistics office of the European Union on Monday.

Household electricity prices decreased in the European Union (EU) by 2.3 percent on average between the second half of 2015 and the second half of 2016. They now stand at 20.5 euros per 100 kWh. In the same period, household gas prices went down by 10.5 percent on average to 6.4 euros per 100 kWh.

Since 2008, both electricity and gas prices in the EU have risen by around a quarter (+23 percent and +26 percent, respectively).

On average, taxes and levies accounted for more than a third (36 percent) of the electricity bills charged to households in the second half of 2016, and about a quarter (26 percent) of the gas prices.

Between the second half of 2015 and the second half of 2016, the largest decreases in household electricity prices, in national currencies, were observed in the Netherlands (-13.8 percent) and Cyprus (-11.8 percent), followed by Lithuania (-5.8 percent), Romania (-5.6 percent) and Ireland (-4.7 percent). In contrast, the most noticeable increase was registered in Belgium (+16.7 percent), well ahead of Sweden (+7.7 percent) and Portugal (+3.5 percent).

Expressed in euro, average household electricity prices in the second half of 2016 were lowest in Bulgaria (9.4 euros per 100 kWh), Hungary (11.3 euros) and Lithuania (11.7 euros), and highest in Denmark (30.8 euros), Germany (29.8 euros) and Belgium (27.5 euros).

When expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS), it can be seen that, relative to the cost of other goods and services, the lowest household electricity prices were found in Finland (12.8 PPS per 100 kWh), Luxembourg (14.4) and the Netherlands (14.7), and the highest in Portugal (30.2), Germany (28.7), Belgium (25.7), Spain (25.6) and Romania (25.4).